A Survey of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

History, Beliefs, Aims and Work

by Dr. Zahid Aziz

Text of pages 28 to 38:

Maulana Muhammad Ali:

These words were written in a book published in September 1891. Some six years later, a young man in his early twenties, by the name of Muhammad Ali, who was one of the very few among Muslims receiving a Western-style modern college education, joined the Ahmadiyya Movement. Hazrat Mirza recognised his potential immediately and foresaw that he was destined to be a source of great strength to the Movement’s cause. He announced:

“I am very pleased that another righteous young man has joined our community, namely, Maulvi Muhammad Ali, M.A., advocate. I have very high hopes of him. … I am sure that my prediction will not go wrong that this young man will make progress in the way of Allah, and set such examples of being steadfast in righteousness and love of the faith as ought to be emulated by his peers.”1

Having completed his education, the young Muhammad Ali was ready to start his practice in law in the year 1900 when Hazrat Mirza asked him to devote his life wholly for the cause of Islam and to edit an English language journal which he was proposing to establish. Hazrat Mirza wrote:

“It was always a matter of concern and anxiety for me that all the truths, spiritual knowledge, solid arguments in support of the religion of Islam, and things to satisfy the human soul, which were disclosed to me, and are still being disclosed, had not given any benefit to the modernly-educated classes of this country and to the students of truth among the Westerners. This pain was so intense as to be unbearable any more. … Therefore, to fulfill the object which is the real purpose of my life, a proposal has arisen, and that is to bring out a magazine in English for the objects mentioned above.”2

Thus, to fulfill what he calls “the real purpose of my life” Hazrat Mirza appointed Maulana Muhammad Ali as editor of this magazine, entitled The Review of Religions, which started publication in the year 1901. The circulation of this magazine — a unique Islamic magazine for its time — extended beyond India to as far as the U.S.A. and Russia. In this monthly journal Hazrat Mirza spoke to the West through the English words of Maulana Muhammad Ali.

It is recorded in the Ahmadiyya community’s newspaper Badr that one day in February 1907 Hazrat Mirza called Maulana Muhammad Ali to him and directed him as follows:

“It is my wish that, to fulfill the duty of propagation of Islam to Europe and America, a book be written in English. This is your work. The reason why Islam does not spread in those countries at this time … is that those people do not know its real teachings nor have these been put before them. They have the right to be shown the real Islam… All those matters with which the honour of Islam is connected in this age, and all those arguments which God Almighty has given me to prove the truth of Islam, should be collected together so as to compile a comprehensive book, from which these people can greatly benefit.”3

Thus Hazrat Mirza had charged Maulana Muhammad Ali with the general task of presenting to the world, in a systematic and detailed form, the faith-reviving picture of Islam which he had unveiled in his capacity as the mujaddid of the time. The particular book which the Maulana wrote in fulfilment of this specific instruction is mentioned further on below.

Maulana Muhammad Ali continues Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s Work:

The Maulana set himself to this work of the presentation of Islam and continued it incessantly till the end of his life in 1951. However, shortly after he had begun it, a schism took place in the Ahmadiyya Movement in the year 1914. This led to the founding, in Lahore, of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam, meaning the Ahmadiyya Society for the Propagation of Islam, under the Maulana’s headship. Later on we give some details of the background and causes of these events. Suffice it here to note that much the greater part of the Maulana’s work which we now discuss was done after he became the head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.

English Translation of the Quran with Commentary:

The first great step in this path was producing the English translation of the Holy Quran, with full commentary, which he began in 1909, shortly after Hazrat Mirza’s death. This voluminous work was published in 1917. It was not the first English translation by a Muslim, as two or three such works had appeared shortly before it in India, but these were little known and confined only to a very limited circulation. The Maulana’s work was certainly the first by a Muslim to be in general circulation and the first by a Muslim to be available in the West, printed and published as it was in England. Moreover, as a Muslim reviewer noted many years later, it was:

“…the first work published by any Muslim with the thoroughness worthy of Quranic scholarship and achieving the standards of modern publications.”4

Many were the tributes paid to it, by Muslims as well as non-Muslims, for example:

  • “accurate and reliable”
  • “a valuable service not only to Islam but to the public at large”
  • “chaste and simple language”
  • “among human productions of literary masterpieces, it undoubtedly claims a position of distinction and pre-eminence”
  • “a work of which any scholar might legitimately be proud”.

An Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi, who himself later translated the Quran, wrote that:

“To deny the excellence of Maulvi Muhammad Ali’s translation, the influence it has exercised and its proselytising utility, would be to deny the light of the sun.”

He added:

“The translation certainly helped in bringing thousands of non-Muslims to the Muslim fold and hundreds of thousands of unbelievers much nearer Islam.”

He went on to relate how this translation:

“…brought me towards Islam when I was groping in darkness, atheism and scepticism.”5

Another Sunni Muslim reviewer wrote:

“…the simplicity of its language and the correctness of the version are all enviable. The writer has kept his annotations altogether free from sectarian influence with wonderful impartiality.”6

The famous Muslim nationalist leader Mohammad Ali Jauhar wrote about this work as follows:

“… an austerely faithful translation in English and copious footnotes based on a close study of commentaries of the Quran … the work of my learned namesake, Maulvi Muhammad Ali of Lahore, leader of a fairly numerous religious community”7

“ … the simplicity and precision and the adherence to the text indicate the reverence due to God’s own Word from a true believer … there now exists in at least one European language a rendering of the holy Quran done by a true believer and not by a scoffer, by one who believes every word of the Book to be God’s own, every word to be true and full of light…”8

The Maulana’s translation made a considerable impression in the Muslim world as well as in the West, and was for several years the only Muslim English translation and commentary available. The other well-known English translations by Muslims appeared several years later, and undoubtedly derived benefit from the Maulana’s work. Towards the end of his life, after the Second World War, the Maulana thoroughly revised his 1917 translation and commentary. The language of the translation was made simpler and the commentary was brought up to date in the light of the changed world conditions. The revised edition was first published in 1951.

This English work has itself been translated into other languages including Dutch, German, Spanish, French and Russian.

Book The Religion of Islam:

As quoted above, Hazrat Mirza had wanted Maulana Muhammad Ali to write a comprehensive book on Islam in English. This the Maulana did in the form of the voluminous work The Religion of Islam which was first published in 1936. It deals in full detail with the sources of Islam (the Quran, Hadith, Jurisprudence), the beliefs and doctrines of Islam, and its practices. It earned a magnificent review from Marmaduke Pickthall, a British Muslim and himself a translator of the Quran into English. He wrote in the Islamic Culture quarterly, of which he was editor:

“Probably no man living has done longer or more valuable service for the cause of Islamic revival than Maulana Muhammad Ali of Lahore. His literary works,9 with those of the late Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, have given fame and distinction to the Ahmadiyya Movement. In our opinion the present volume is his finest work. … Such a book is greatly needed when in many Muslim countries we see persons eager for the revival of Islam, making mistakes through lack of just this knowledge. … We do not always agree with Maulana Muhammad Ali’s conclusions upon minor points — sometimes they appear to us eccentric — but his premises are always sound, we are always conscious of his deep sincerity; and his reverence for the holy Quran is sufficient in itself to guarantee his work in all essentials.”

The fact that Mr. Pickthall was an orthodox Sunni Muslim, and who had not previously looked upon the Ahmadiyya Movement with favour, makes this tribute most remarkable and extraordinary. Muhammad Ali’s commentary of the Quran as well as his book The Religion of Islam are based upon the principles and interpretations expounded in the writings of Hazrat Mirza, and this fact is clearly mentioned by the Maulana in his Prefaces to these works. In his Preface to the translation of the Quran he writes, while acknowledging his sources:

“And lastly, the greatest religious leader of the present time, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, has inspired me with all that is best in this work. I have drunk deep at the fountain of knowledge which this great Reformer — Mujaddid of the present century and founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement — has made to flow.”

In the Preface to The Religion of Islam, he tells the readers:

“Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had charged me with the writing of an English book which should contain all that was necessary for a Muslim, or a non-Muslim, to know about the religion of Islam, and to give a true picture of the religion which was largely misrepresented”.

Therefore, the ideas of Hazrat Mirza presented by the pen of Maulana Muhammad Ali, which he clearly ascribed to the Ahmadiyya founder, have been applauded by orthodox, recognised Sunni religious leaders as being the true picture of Islam, as being the most valuable service for Islamic revival unmatched by anyone else, and as bringing large numbers of lost Muslims and non-Muslims towards and into Islam. How different this is from the venomous and scurrilous propaganda carried out today against the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement which portrays him as an enemy of Islam!

Other Writings:

Maulana Muhammad Ali also wrote many other books in English, the most famous among them being the following:

  • A Manual of Hadith — selections from Hadith works relating to practical life, with Arabic text, translation and explanatory notes.
  • Muhammad The Prophet — biography of the Prophet.
  • The Early Caliphate — history of the first four Caliphs.
  • Living Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad — written at invitation of a British publisher for their ‘Living Thoughts’ series.
  • The New World Order — how Islam can solve the social, economic and political problems of the modern world.
  • The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement — short biography of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

These have been translated into other languages, notably German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Russian. He also produced a large number of tracts and booklets on Islam and the Ahmadiyya Movement.

It must also be mentioned that the Maulana wrote even more extensively in the Urdu language for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. In the mid-1920s he produced an Urdu translation and commentary of the Quran, entitled Bayan-ul-Quran, which is much more detailed than the English work. A little later came his voluminous Urdu translation and commentary of the whole of Sahih Bukhari. Then there are several comprehensive works on the Ahmadiyya Movement, such as Tahrik-i Ahmadiyyat and Al-nubuwwat fil-Islam (both later translated into English), which deal with the claims of Hazrat Mirza and refute the Qadiani beliefs, in particular the false doctrine that he was a prophet and must be accepted otherwise one cannot remain a Muslim.

Other Work of the Lahore Ahmadiyya:

Besides the writings of Maulana Muhammad Ali, a vast amount of other missionary and literary work has been done by the Movement. There have been quite a number of intellectual giants, renowned missionaries, powerful speakers, and illustrious scholars and writers who have served the Movement. Among these we will, for brevity, mention only the names of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din, Dr. Basharat Ahmad, Maulana Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad, Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi, and of more recent times Hafiz Sher Muhammad. This list of names is not complete by any means. Their work and writings are far too vast and numerous to be noted in any detail in this article.

The enormous amount of literature produced by the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement throughout its history, primarily in English and Urdu, is gradually being made available online on the website www.aaiil.org.

Woking Muslim Mission:

As regards missionary work, Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (1870-1932) founded the Woking Muslim Mission at the Woking Mosque in England as far back as 1913. In those colonial times, for an Indian subject to establish a mission in England to refute the church doctrines so staunchly believed in at that time, and to preach Islam to the ruling masters, required the most exceptional courage and vision. It shows the extraordinary strength of faith, confidence and inspiration with which Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s followers became charged by contact with him. The Khwaja quite quickly gained a large number of British converts to Islam, including learned and eminent persons such as Lord Headley (d. 1935).

The Woking Mission presented a non-sectarian Islam, without reference to the particular beliefs of any group, not even the Ahmadiyya Movement, but its interpretation of Islam was that of the Lahore Ahmadis (for example, on issues such as the Islamic view of Jesus, war in Islam, meaning of jihad, etc.) and the Lahore Ahmadiyya literature was distributed from there. For over half a century, this Mission was the main centre of Islam in the U.K. and was regarded as representing the Muslim community as a whole. Its Imam, an office generally held by a Lahore Ahmadi, was considered as the Imam of the Muslims of the U.K. The history of Islam in Britain during this period till the mid-1960s is closely connected with the history of the Woking Mission. Besides work in Britain, the Woking Mission was also in contact with Muslims in many other parts of the world, and its literature went to countries all over the globe.

The most famous public figures of the Muslim world, such as heads of state, royalty, intellectuals, politicians, diplomats, businessmen, literary figures, etc., when visiting or staying in England, attended functions at the Woking Mission. Other people from Muslim countries who regularly came to the Mosque included university students, members of the armed forces under training in the U.K. and those pursuing various other courses. Many of these would later rise to high positions in their countries. A large number of non-Muslim visitors and enquirers also came regularly. Reports of these visits, with photographs, may be found in the pages of the Mission’s monthly, The Islamic Review, over many decades. It is unimaginable today that the most prominent Muslim political, religious, and intellectual leaders supported a mission run by Lahore Ahmadiyya members and said their prayers following an Ahmadi imam.

In the 1960s, when the anti-Ahmadiyya Ulama from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent began to come to England in the wake of the immigration of a large number of people to this country from the subcontinent, they could not tolerate the existence of a Lahore Ahmadiyya mission in a Muslim mosque and expelled the mission from the Woking Mosque.

Due to the importance of the work of the Woking Mission in the history of Islam in the West, we have created a website to provide full information about the Mission, its founding, the famous personalities connected with it, its propagation work and its publications. The website is www.wokingmuslim.org. Among the material available on it is an extensive archive of photographs and most of the issues of its organ The Islamic Review from 1913 to 1970. Also provided on the website are links to the British Pathé newsreel film archive, where newsreel clips covering functions at the Woking Mosque between the years 1919 to 1958 can be freely viewed.

Berlin Mosque and Mission:

Another pioneering mission is in the heart of Berlin, Germany, where a grand mosque and adjoining mission house were constructed by the Movement in 1926, under the supervision of Maulana Sadr-ud-Din. This mission again, like Woking in England, was regarded as the centre of Islam in Germany and the representative of all Muslims, its influence also extending to other parts of central Europe. Again like Woking, this mission too is of historical importance, and famous Muslims and converts to Islam have had contact with it. Miraculously, the buildings survived the Second World War, though much damage was incurred in the fighting towards the end of the war when Berlin was captured by the Soviet forces from the Germans. The Mosque, greatly repaired in recent years, is now a recognised national monument of Germany.

Other Missions and Branches:

The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement has also done extensive missionary work to help Muslim communities of Indian origin settled in various countries such as Fiji, Suriname, Trinidad, Guyana, South Africa, etc. As in the Indian subcontinent, the Muslims in these countries were facing attacks on Islam by Christian missionaries and the Arya Samaj Hindu sect, which the Movement went to refute and counter. As a result a large Lahore Ahmadiyya following sprang up in these countries. Indonesia is another country where the Movement has worked since the 1920s, and now has a numerous membership.

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Footnotes:

  1. Announcement, 4th October 1899. Majmua Ishtiharat, v. 3, pp. 157–158. ↩︎
  2. Announcement, January 1901. Majmua Ishtiharat, v. 3, pp. 393–394. ↩︎
  3. Malfuzat, vol. 9, pp. 191–192. ↩︎
  4. Hashim Amir Ali, The Student’s Quran, London, 1961, p. iv. ↩︎
  5. Such, Lucknow, 25 June 1943. ↩︎
  6. Wakeel, Amritsar, India. ↩︎
  7. My Life — A Fragment, edited by Afzal Iqbal, Lahore, 1966, p. 115. ↩︎
  8. The Islamic Review, December 1919. ↩︎
  9. Islamic Culture, Hyderabad, India, October 1936, pp. 659–660. ↩︎

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